FREE
The LAKER WESLEY CHAPEL/NEW TAMPA EDITION
County may try anonymous code enforcement complaints
Auto Accident? Slip and Fall?
FREE CONSULTATION
No Fees Or Costs Unless You Win HOLLIDAY BOMHOFF KARATINOS
By Michael Hinman mhinman@lakerlutznews.com
P.L. Attorneys at Law
HelpingInjuredPeople.com Call Attorney
JIM HOLLIDAY 813-868-1887 “I Will Aggressively Fight To Protect Your Legal Rights” 18920 N. Dale Mabry Hwy Ste 101 Lutz, FL (Corner of Sunlake & Dale Mabry)
Walk-Ins Welcome
Check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ LakerLutzNews You’ll find stories, things to do, specials, community photos and more.
A Bok in the park When it comes to amazing Florida foliage, first thoughts typically lean toward the Sunken Gardens or the old Cypress Gardens. Bok Tower Gardens, however, is considered one of America’s finest gardens, offering a feeling of serenity, and making a trip to Lake Wales a memorable one. Find out more about this park on Page 20.
Lake Jovita, St. Leo officially divorce By Michael Hinman mhinman@lakerlutznews.com
PREVENT A COSTLY SUMMER BREAKDOWN CALL TODAY FOR A SPRING TUNE-UP
NEW LOOK SAME GREAT SERVICE
$39.95
24/7 Emergency A/C & Plumbing Service A/C LICENSE #CAC1816647
M AY 2 1 , 2 0 1 4
PLUMBING LIC. #CFC1428982
CornerstonePros.com 813-949-4445
Years of conflict between some homeowners in the Lake Jovita subdivision of eastern Pasco County and the Town of St. Leo ended last week with the stroke of the governor’s pen. Rick Scott signed into law H.B. 1401, which officially de-annexes a portion of Lake Jovita from one of the county’s oldest municipalities. The signing took place with no fanfare, and was in fact one of 55 bills that became law that day. The bill was introduced by state Rep. Amanda Murphy, D-New Port Richey, designed to allow more than 80 homes in Lake Jovita join the rest of its neighborhood in unincorporated Pasco. It goes into affect immediately, which means two commissioners in the town government who live in Lake Jovita are no longer on the commission. That includes Ray Davis, who beat longtime commissioner Donna DeWitt in the April municipal elections. He will actually be removed from the commission before he
even officially joins. The remaining commissioners will now appoint people to fill the vacancies. It’s not clear, however, if DeWitt will return. The Tallahassee action was required because a municipality cannot de-annex an area that meets all the conditions that would’ve allowed the town to annex it otherwise. That means if an unincorporated neighborhood meets all the qualifications allowing it to be annexed into a town, that town cannot de-annex it later. To make that happened, St. Leo and Lake Jovita needed a bill to pass both the House and Senate, and then a signature from the governor. The new St. Leo will see its population drop from 1,369 to 1,173, according to a House committee report. The expected financial impact of the move would decrease the town’s revenue by $50,000, or 15 percent. It also would reduce the number of rooftops by 85. Lake Jovita is a planned 871-home development that broke ground in the late 1990s, and is located primarily in unincorporated Pasco County.
Tired of seeing a neighbor’s car up on concrete blocks? Worried that snakes are finding a paradise in a home’s overgrown yard on your street? Making a complaint to Pasco County’s Customer Service Department requires a name, address and telephone number. But it might not be that way for long. Pasco County Commissioners are exploring the idea of allowing the option to report code violations and other problems anonymously. It would help encourage neighbors to keep Pasco looking good without the fear of retaliation. But not everyone on the commission is on board. “I am very concerned with going anonymous,” Commissioner Henry Wilson said during a workshop last week in Dade City.“I think it would be a huge burden to the (code enforcement) officers, but I will defer to them. If they think it’s the better option to do that, then I would be willing to look into it.” Joaquin Servia, Pasco’s code enforcement manager, said moving to a system where someone didn’t have to give their name when filing a complaint could require more money and manpower than his department currently has. “There is a real chance that just accepting pure anonymous complaints is going to increase the number of frivolous complaints we get,” Servia said.“It could just turn into spite, a neighbor-on-neighbor-type of dispute that gets elevated to where now you can use government to club your neighbor over the head.” However, many people don’t complain about problems they see in their neighborhoods, because the fear of reprisal is just too great, Commissioner Kathryn Starkey said. “When they call in to complain, their cars get keyed and they get trash thrown in their yards,” she said.“Seems to me that we can do a mixture of these two (named complaints and anonymous), where we could take down the number and information of the person making the complaint, but not give it out.” Except the county would not be able to do that, Servia said. Even a code enforcement complaint is public record, and government would have to comply with public records laws in releasing that inforSee CODE, page 14
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOAQUIN SERVIA
Code violations are not just something that makes a neighborhood ugly, but can make it unsafe as well. Old swimming pools, like this one, create a hazard that could injure people, especially children.